By our reporter/ Over 500 communities in Shiroro LGA in Niger state have been taken over by Boko Haram insurgents, Suleiman Chukuba, the chairman of the LGA has said.
Chukuba who made the alarming disclosure while speaking with journalists on Friday, said not less than 8 wards in the LGA are now under Boko Haram siege.
According to him, the affected areas are Manta, Gurmana, Bassa-Kokki, Allawa, Kurebe, Kushaka, Kwati, Chukuba and Galadima Kogo.
“They incorporate the people of those communities by telling them they have arms and money to give them so they can assist them in fighting the government,” he said.
“Shiroro local government has an uncountable number of Boko Haram fighters.
“I have the proof being that I am the executive chairman, the chief security officer of the local government. When they go to the various communities, what they tell them is that ‘We don’t want primary, secondary schools. We only want Islamiyya schools.’”
The council chairman called on the federal government to deploy more security operatives to the area to fight the insurgents who have made Shiroro their home.
It will be recalled that the state governor, Abubakar Bello, had in April said Boko Haram members hoisted their flag in Kaure, Shiroro LGA.
Bello confirmed the presence of the insurgents when he visited over 3,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Shiroro and Munya LGAs who were taking refuge in Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) Primary School, Minna.
The governor, who decried the security challenges in the state, also expressed concern over “how wives of the locals have been taken over” by the insurgents.
“I am confirming that there are Boko Haram elements in Niger state, around Kaure,” Bello had said.
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